Five extra-base hits, including three bombs, helped
lead the No. 2/3 Gator softball squad to a 10-4 victory over Missouri for the
2013 SEC Tournament Championship Saturday, as the Orange and Blue swept both
the regular-season and SEC Tournament titles for the third time in Florida
history. Behind SEC Tournament MVP and Gator freshman centerfielder Kirsti
Merritt (Lake Panasoffkee, Fla.), UF improved to 52-7 on the year and will wait
for NCAA tournament seeding, announced at 10 p.m. ET Sunday on ESPNU’s NCAA
Softball Selection Show.

Working from behind for their 18th
come-from-behind of the year, Florida’s first two hits Saturday evening both
left the yard as senior Kelsey Horton (Valrico, Fla.) and Merritt both
ripped two-run blasts to get the Gators rolling offensively.

After clinching their fourth SEC Championship
in school history last week, the Gators returned to defeat Alabama (8-4),
Georgia (9-5) and finally Missouri (10-4) for their third SEC Tournament Title
after also winning both the regular season and SEC tourney in 2008 and 2009. UF
played in the tourney championship for the sixth time in program history and
improved to 14-5 (.736) in the conference tournament under 2013 SEC Coach of
the Year Tim Walton.

After a RBI double and a solo home run from
Missouri in the first and second innings, respectively, for the 2-0 Tigers lead
early, one swing of the bat in the bottom of the second from Horton knotted
things up between the Gators and Tigers.

Sophomore starting pitcher Lauren Haeger (Peoria,
Ariz.) first drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a Chelsea Thomas wild pitch
before Horton sent her ninth bomb of the year to straight-away center for a 2-2
ballgame after the second frame. Haeger (4.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K) picked
up the win to improve to 15-2 on the season, while junior ace Hannah Rogers (Peoria,
Ariz.) came on for three innings of relief (3.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) to
pick up her fourth save of the season.

Missouri opted to go with senior Lindsey
Muller in the circle in the bottom of the third and the Gators made the Tigers
pay after Stewart drew a leadoff walk as Merritt left the yard with a two-run
blast of her own for the 4-2 Gator lead, chasing Muller from the circle in
favor of senior Nicole Hudson.

A Stewart two-RBI triple – her staggering
ninth of the season – ripped to the left-center wall plated freshman pinch
runner Taylore Fuller (Trenton, Fla.) and sophomore Katie Medina (Downey,
Calif.) in the bottom of the fourth for the 6-2 Orange and Blue lead, Fuller
running for sophomore Bailey Castro (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), who singled
to left field and Medina who reached on a fielder’s choice in the inning.

Rogers, who picked up the win in UF’s
semifinal victory over Georgia, came on in relief of Haeger in the circle in
the fifth inning. After back-to-back doubles, including a Hudson RBI double to
narrow UF’s lead, 6-3, Rogers sat down the next three batters to bring up the
bottom of the fifth.

Tofft earned the run back for the Gators in
the bottom of the fifth with a leadoff bomb over the right-field fence to give
the Gators a four-run cushion with their fourth extra-base hit of the evening. Countering
with a homer of her own, the Tigers’ Rachel Hay sent a solo homer over the
left-field fence for a 7-4 ballgame after the top of the sixth inning.

Tofft and Haeger teamed up for UF’s eighth,
ninth and 10th runs of the game for Florida in the bottom of the sixth, Tofft
with a RBI single to left field and Haeger with a two-RBI double to the
right-center gap for the 10-4 advantage.

Rogers closed it out for the Gators in the
top of the seventh, dealing out a two-out walk before fanning Mackenzie Sykes
in dramatic fashion for the championship victory.

Florida is now 22-23 (.488) all-time in the
SEC Tournament. The Gators are 14-4 (.777) against top-25 opponents, tops in
the SEC, own 18 come-from-behind wins – seven in SEC regular-season play – and
are 5-2 (.714) in extra-inning games in 2013. Florida owns 18 shutouts, paced
by Rogers’ nine.

CHAMPIONSHIP POSTGAME QUOTES

Head Coach Tim Walton

Opening
Statement …

“Well, first we want to congratulate
Missouri, Georgia and Tennessee for getting this far. It is a long season and
we play a lot of games and there are just a lot of classy performances.
Missouri has one of the best offenses that I have seen in a long time. There
are a lot of great hitters in that lineup, and Chelsea Thomas is a beast. I’m
proud of my players of how they competed and how they composed themselves. The
celebration you saw was long overdue. The celebration on the field was more of
a carryover from last week’s championship to this week’s championship.
Commissioner Slive put on a great event and to Kentucky, Mr. (Mitch) Barnhart
and the staff here as well. They probably haven’t hosted a softball event in a
long time and to put on an event like that through the weather and the rain it means
a lot to our student-athletes. I’m proud to be the coach of this team and how
they compete. I’m thankful that we got it done.”

On
the game plan for the game…

“I wasn’t sure who we were going to face, so
we didn’t have one. We did not have one for (Nicole) Hudson or for (Chelsea)
Thomas. I told my team before the game that no matter how many we are down or
ahead to make sure you keep going and not get caught up in the score. This
Missouri team has been down and scored a ton. They also have the blood in the
water mentality, as they will pound you once they sense you are down. We just
tried to focus on our at bats.”

#20, Kelsey Horton, OF

On
her confidence …

“I think I was having some pretty good at
bats this weekend. I just wasn’t getting hits. It boosted my confidence,
towards the end of the Georgia game, getting some hits. I felt confidence going
into tonight against Mizzou and not worrying about who was pitching, just worrying
about myself really helped me out tonight.”

On
winning the SEC Tournament her senior year…

“It
was just great to be able to hold that trophy with Ensley (Gammel). I’ve been
here four years on some really good teams, and we haven’t won an SEC title or
an SEC Tournament Title yet so I’m so happy my senior year, I could go out that
way.”

#24, Kirsti Merritt, OF

On
her team’s performance through the tournament …

“It was surprising. We just came out. Coach
(Walton) has been working with us on hitting. We hit almost every day. It
wasn’t surprising that we’re all hitting so well. It was exciting that we came
out here and did our thing.”

On
winning the SEC Tournament …

“It’s
a first so it was really exciting. I’ve never done that, so it was fun.”

NEXT UP

The Orange & Blue will await 2013 NCAA
Championship seeding, to be released Sunday evening at 10 p.m. on ESPNU as part
of the 2013 NCAA Softball Tournament Selection Show. Florida was the No. 5
national seed last season and has been a
top-five national seed in the NCAA Tournament the past five years.

For live updates, box scores, stats, pictures
and recaps throughout the season, be sure to visit UF on GatorZone, follow the
Gators on Twitterand visit the team on Facebookfor all the latest on
Gator softball. For broadcast and television information, visit the UF
softball schedule page.